I can’t remember where or when it was that I first heard of the Kinda Surprise Egg. My best guess is that it was during college, and one of my friends introduced me to them. What I was immediately stuck by was how great the idea of it was and how silly it is that they’re not available in the United States (and now sadly, other countries are following suit.) due to a supposed choking hazard of the toy. I find that silly and disappointing, since the Kinder Surprise is such a fun and unique candy. It’d be a shame to have it disappear in this over-protective modern world we live in.

The Kinder Egg (kinder meaning “child” in German) is made by Ferrero and is about double the size of a real egg. I’ve seen them sold as is or in a box or three or more. It’s construction sonsists of the chocolate egg surrounding that iconic bright yellow capsule that holds the toy. The chocolate has two layers: the outside is milk chocolate and the inside white “lining”...aka mockolate. The egg is easily broken open since the chocolate is soft, and it tastes very sweet with that European dry milk powder flavor. I find that it gives me a small throat burn, but it doesn’t bother me too much.

The yellow capsule pops open under firm pressure revealing the instructions and pieces of the toy, which almost always require assembly. There’s also usually a paper that has the website and a coupon code printed on it for a chance to win prizes. I admit I never bothered with that, though.

Wow! Look, I got a spy kit! I now can use my belt-clipping mirror to spy on my roommate!

A few of the more memorable toys I’ve gotten from are a German gingerbread-styled house (to line up with other houses, oh yay!), a whale-shaped car meant for driving on the moon (say what?) and a figurine of a “handsome” prince which was actually rather terrifying. You can see many other toys in the Flickr Kinder Surprise Pool.

I find myself buying these whenever I see them because I love the cheesy toy so much. It never fails to make me laugh. Regardless if I keep it for myself or give it to a friend, it’s fun embodied in a chocolate candy egg.